The concept of symmetric space is of central importance in many branches of mathematics. Compactifications of these spaces have been studied from the points of view of representation theory, geometry, and random walks. This work is devoted to the study of the interrelationships among these various compactifications and, in particular, focuses on the martin compactifications. It is the first exposition to treat compactifications of symmetric spaces systematically and to uniformized the various points of view.

Key features:

* definition and detailed analysis of the Martin compactifications

* new geometric Compactification, defined in terms of the Tits building, that coincides with the Martin Compactification at the bottom of the positive spectrum.

* geometric, non-inductive, description of the Karpelevic Compactification

* study of the well-know isomorphism between the Satake compactifications and the Furstenberg compactifications

* systematic and clear progression of topics from geometry to analysis, and finally to random walks

The work is largely self-contained, with comprehensive references to the literature. It is an excellent resource for both researchers and graduate students.

This book provides a modern introduction to harmonic analysis and synthesis on topological groups. It serves as a guide to the abstract theory of Fourier transformation. For the first time, it presents a detailed account of the theory of classical harmonic analysis together with the recent developments in spectral analysis and synthesis.

The book offers a good introduction to topology through solved exercises. It is mainly intended for undergraduate students. Most exercises are given with detailed solutions.

A phenomenon which appears in nature, or human behavior, can sometimes be explained by saying that a certain potential function is maximized, or minimized. For example, the Hamiltonian mechanics, soapy films, size of an atom, business management, etc. In mathematics, a point where a given function attains an extreme value is called a critical point, or a singular point. The purpose of singularity theory is to explore the properties of singular points of functions and mappings.This is a volume on the proceedings of the fourth Japanese-Australian Workshop on Real and Complex Singularities held in Kobe, Japan. It consists of 11 original articles on singularities. Readers will be introduced to some important new notions for characterizations of singularities and several interesting results are delivered. In addition, current approaches to classical topics and state-of-the-art effective computational methods of invariants of singularities are also presented. This volume will be useful not only to the singularity theory specialists but also to general mathematicians.

The principal aim of this book is to introduce topology and its many applications viewed within a framework that includes a consideration of compactness, completeness, continuity, filters, function spaces, grills, clusters and bunches, hyperspace topologies, initial and final structures, metric spaces, metrization, nets, proximal continuity, proximity spaces, separation axioms, and uniform spaces. This book provides a complete framework for the study of topology with a variety of applications in science and engineering that include camouflage filters, classification, digital image processing, forgery detection, Hausdorff raster spaces, image analysis, microscopy, paleontology, pattern recognition, population dynamics, stem cell biology, topological psychology, and visual merchandising. It is the first complete presentation on topology with applications considered in the context of proximity spaces, and the nearness and remoteness of sets of objects. A novel feature throughout this book is the use of near and far, discovered by F Riesz over 100 years ago. In addition, it is the first time that this form of topology is presented in the context of a number of new applications.

Based on a series of graduate lectures given by Vladimir Markovic at the University of Warwick in spring 2003, this book is accessible to those with a grounding in complex analysis looking for an introduction to the theory of quasiconformal maps and Teichm ller theory. Assuming some familiarity with Riemann surfaces and hyperbolic geometry, topics covered include the Gr tzch argument, analytical properties of quasiconformal maps, the Beltrami differential equation, holomorphic motions and Teichm ller spaces. Where proofs are omitted, references to where they may be found are always given, and the text is clearly illustrated throughout with diagrams, examples, and exercises for the reader.

Far from being separate entities, many social and engineering systems can be considered as complex network systems (CNSs) associated with closely linked interactions with neighbouring entities such as the Internet and power grids. Roughly speaking, a CNS refers to a networking system consisting of lots of interactional individuals, exhibiting fascinating collective behaviour that cannot always be anticipated from the inherent properties of the individuals themselves. As one of the most fundamental examples of cooperative behaviour, consensus within CNSs (or the synchronization of complex networks) has gained considerable attention from various fields of research, including systems science, control theory and electrical engineering. This book mainly studies consensus of CNSs with dynamics topologies - unlike most existing books that have focused on consensus control and analysis for CNSs under a fixed topology. As most practical networks have limited communication ability, switching graphs can be used to characterize real-world communication topologies, leading to a wider range of practical applications. This book provides some novel multiple Lyapunov functions (MLFs), good candidates for analysing the consensus of CNSs with directed switching topologies, while each chapter provides detailed theoretical analyses according to the stability theory of switched systems. Moreover, numerical simulations are provided to validate the theoretical results. Both professional researchers and laypeople will benefit from this book.

We propose here a study of 'semiexact' and 'homological' categories as a basis for a generalised homological algebra. Our aim is to extend the homological notions to deeply non-abelian situations, where satellites and spectral sequences can still be studied.This is a sequel of a book on 'Homological Algebra, The interplay of homology with distributive lattices and orthodox semigroups', published by the same Editor, but can be read independently of the latter.The previous book develops homological algebra in p-exact categories, i.e. exact categories in the sense of Puppe and Mitchell - a moderate generalisation of abelian categories that is nevertheless crucial for a theory of 'coherence' and 'universal models' of (even abelian) homological algebra. The main motivation of the present, much wider extension is that the exact sequences or spectral sequences produced by unstable homotopy theory cannot be dealt with in the previous framework.According to the present definitions, a semiexact category is a category equipped with an ideal of 'null' morphisms and provided with kernels and cokernels with respect to this ideal. A homological category satisfies some further conditions that allow the construction of subquotients and induced morphisms, in particular the homology of a chain complex or the spectral sequence of an exact couple.Extending abelian categories, and also the p-exact ones, these notions include the usual domains of homology and homotopy theories, e.g. the category of 'pairs' of topological spaces or groups; they also include their codomains, since the sequences of homotopy 'objects' for a pair of pointed spaces or a fibration can be viewed as exact sequences in a homological category, whose objects are actions of groups on pointed sets.

This volume is based on lectures given at the highly successful three-week Summer School on Geometry, Topology and Dynamics of Character Varieties held at the National University of Singapore's Institute for Mathematical Sciences in July 2010.Aimed at graduate students in the early stages of research, the edited and refereed articles comprise an excellent introduction to the subject of the program, much of which is otherwise available only in specialized texts. Topics include hyperbolic structures on surfaces and their degenerations, applications of ping-pong lemmas in various contexts, introductions to Lorenzian and complex hyperbolic geometry, and representation varieties of surface groups into PSL(2, ) and other semi-simple Lie groups. This volume will serve as a useful portal to students and researchers in a vibrant and multi-faceted area of mathematics.

This book describes the global properties of simply-connected spaces that are non-positively curved in the sense of A. D. Alexandrov, and the structure of groups which act on such spaces by isometries. The theory of these objects is developed in a manner accessible to anyone familiar with the rudiments of topology and group theory: non-trivial theorems are proved by concatenating elementary geometric arguments, and many examples are given. Part I is an introduction to the geometry of geodesic spaces. In Part II the basic theory of spaces with upper curvature bounds is developed. More specialized topics, such as complexes of groups, are covered in Part III. The book is divided into three parts, each part is divided into chapters and the chapters have various subheadings. The chapters in Part III are longer and for ease of reference are divided into numbered sections.

"Knot theory is a fascinating mathematical subject, with multiple links to theoretical physics. This enyclopedia is filled with valuable information on a rich and fascinating subject." - Ed Witten, Recipient of the Fields Medal "I spent a pleasant afternoon perusing the Encyclopedia of Knot Theory. It's a comprehensive compilation of clear introductions to both classical and very modern developments in the field. It will be a terrific resource for the accomplished researcher, and will also be an excellent way to lure students, both graduate and undergraduate, into the field." - Abigail Thompson, Distinguished Professor of Mathematics at University of California, Davis Knot theory has proven to be a fascinating area of mathematical research, dating back about 150 years. Encyclopedia of Knot Theory provides short, interconnected articles on a variety of active areas in knot theory, and includes beautiful pictures, deep mathematical connections, and critical applications. Many of the articles in this book are accessible to undergraduates who are working on research or taking an advanced undergraduate course in knot theory. More advanced articles will be useful to graduate students working on a related thesis topic, to researchers in another area of topology who are interested in current results in knot theory, and to scientists who study the topology and geometry of biopolymers. Features Provides material that is useful and accessible to undergraduates, postgraduates, and full-time researchers Topics discussed provide an excellent catalyst for students to explore meaningful research and gain confidence and commitment to pursuing advanced degrees Edited and contributed by top researchers in the field of knot theory

Classical Complex Analysis, available in two volumes, provides a clear, broad and solid introduction to one of the remarkable branches of exact science, with an emphasis on the geometric aspects of analytic functions. Volume 2 begins with analytic continuation. The Riemann mapping theorem is proved and used in solving Dirichlet's problem for an open disk and, hence, a class of general domains via Perron's method. Finally, proof of the uniformization theorem of Riemann surfaces is given.

The book is rich in contents, figures, examples and exercises. It is self-contained and is designed for a variety of usages and motivations concerning advanced studies. It can be used both as a textbook for undergraduate and graduate students, and as a reference book in general.

This second of two Exercises in Analysis volumes covers problems in five core topics of mathematical analysis: Function Spaces, Nonlinear and Multivalued Maps, Smooth and Nonsmooth Calculus, Degree Theory and Fixed Point Theory, and Variational and Topological Methods. Each of five topics corresponds to a different chapter with inclusion of the basic theory and accompanying main definitions and results,followed by suitable comments and remarks for better understanding of the material. Exercises/problems are presented for each topic, with solutions available at the end of each chapter. The entire collection of exercises offers a balanced and useful picture for the application surrounding each topic. This nearly encyclopedic coverage of exercises in mathematical analysis is the first of its kind and is accessible to a wide readership. Graduate students will find the collection of problems valuable in preparation for their preliminary or qualifying exams as well as for testing their deeper understanding of the material. Exercises are denoted by degree of difficulty. Instructors teaching courses that include one or all of the above-mentioned topics will find the exercises of great help in course preparation. Researchers in analysis may find this Work useful as a summary of analytic theories published in one accessible volume.

This is a collection of surveys on important mathematical ideas, their origin, their evolution and their impact in current research. The authors are mathematicians who are leading experts in their fields. The book is addressed to all mathematicians, from undergraduate students to senior researchers, regardless of the specialty.

This book is a systematic presentation of the solution of one of the fundamental problems of the theory of random dynamical systems - the problem of topological classification and structural stability of linear hyperbolic random dynamical systems. As a relatively new and fast expanding field of research, this theory attracts the attention of researchers from various fields of science. It unites and develops the classical deterministic theory of dynamical systems and probability theory, hence finds many applications in a very wide range of disciplines from physics to biology to engineering, finance and economics. Recent developments call for a systematic presentation of the theory. Mathematicians working in the theory of dynamical systems, stochastic dynamics as well as those interested in applications of mathematical systems with random noise will find this timely book a valuable reference and rich source of modern mathematical methods and results.

This book examines in detail approximate fixed point theory in different classes of topological spaces for general classes of maps. It offers a comprehensive treatment of the subject that is up-to-date, self-contained, and rich in methods, for a wide variety of topologies and maps. Content includes known and recent results in topology (with proofs), as well as recent results in approximate fixed point theory. This work starts with a set of basic notions in topological spaces. Special attention is given to topological vector spaces, locally convex spaces, Banach spaces, and ultrametric spaces. Sequences and function spaces-and fundamental properties of their topologies-are also covered. The reader will find discussions on fundamental principles, namely the Hahn-Banach theorem on extensions of linear (bounded) functionals; the Banach open mapping theorem; the Banach-Steinhaus uniform boundedness principle; and Baire categories, including some applications. Also included are weak topologies and their properties, in particular the theorems of Eberlein-Smulian, Goldstine, Kakutani, James and Grothendieck, reflexive Banach spaces, l_{1}- sequences, Rosenthal's theorem, sequential properties of the weak topology in a Banach space and weak* topology of its dual, and the Frechet-Urysohn property. The subsequent chapters cover various almost fixed point results, discussing how to reach or approximate the unique fixed point of a strictly contractive mapping of a spherically complete ultrametric space. They also introduce synthetic approaches to fixed point problems involving regular-global-inf functions. The book finishes with a study of problems involving approximate fixed point property on an ambient space with different topologies. By providing appropriate background and up-to-date research results, this book can greatly benefit graduate students and mathematicians seeking to advance in topology and fixed point theory.

This book aims to provide an introduction to the broad and dynamic subject of discrete energy problems and point configurations. Written by leading authorities on the topic, this treatise is designed with the graduate student and further explorers in mind. The presentation includes a chapter of preliminaries and an extensive Appendix that augments a course in Real Analysis and makes the text self-contained. Along with numerous attractive full-color images, the exposition conveys the beauty of the subject and its connection to several branches of mathematics, computational methods, and physical/biological applications. This work is destined to be a valuable research resource for such topics as packing and covering problems, generalizations of the famous Thomson Problem, and classical potential theory in Rd. It features three chapters dealing with point distributions on the sphere, including an extensive treatment of Delsarte-Yudin-Levenshtein linear programming methods for lower bounding energy, a thorough treatment of Cohn-Kumar universality, and a comparison of 'popular methods' for uniformly distributing points on the two-dimensional sphere. Some unique features of the work are its treatment of Gauss-type kernels for periodic energy problems, its asymptotic analysis of minimizing point configurations for non-integrable Riesz potentials (the so-called Poppy-seed bagel theorems), its applications to the generation of non-structured grids of prescribed densities, and its closing chapter on optimal discrete measures for Chebyshev (polarization) problems.

This invaluable book, based on the many years of teaching experience of both authors, introduces the reader to the basic ideas in differential topology. Among the topics covered are smooth manifolds and maps, the structure of the tangent bundle and its associates, the calculation of real cohomology groups using differential forms (de Rham theory), and applications such as the PoincariHopf theorem relating the Euler number of a manifold and the index of a vector field. Each chapter contains exercises of varying difficulty for which solutions are provided. Special features include examples drawn from geometric manifolds in dimension 3 and Brieskorn varieties in dimensions 5 and 7, as well as detailed calculations for the cohomology groups of spheres and tori.

Contents:
Preface 1. Notations and Some Technical Results 2. Random Sets 3. Random Probability Measures and the Narrow Topology 4. Prohorov Theory for Random Probability Measures 5. Further Topologies on Random Measures 6. Invariant Measures and Some Ergodic theory for Random Dynamical Systems A. The Narrow Topology on Non-Random Measures B. Scattered Results Bibliography Index

In 1993, M Kontsevich proposed a conceptual framework for explaining the phenomenon of mirror symmetry. Mirror symmetry had been discovered by physicists in string theory as a duality between families of three-dimensional Calabi-Yau manifolds. Kontsevich's proposal uses Fukaya's construction of the A -category of Lagrangian submanifolds on the symplectic side and the derived category of coherent sheaves on the complex side. The theory of mirror symmetry was further enhanced by physicists in the language of D-branes and also by Strominger-Yau-Zaslow in the geometric set-up of (special) Lagrangian torus fibrations. It rapidly expanded its scope across from geometry, topology, algebra to physics.In this volume, leading experts in the field explore recent developments in relation to homological mirror symmetry, Floer theory, D-branes and Gromov-Witten invariants. Kontsevich-Soibelman describe their solution to the mirror conjecture on the abelian variety based on the deformation theory of A -categories, and Ohta describes recent work on the Lagrangian intersection Floer theory by Fukaya-Oh-Ohta-Ono which takes an important step towards a rigorous construction of the A -category. There follow a number of contributions on the homological mirror symmetry, D-branes and the Gromov-Witten invariants, e.g. Getzler shows how the Toda conjecture follows from recent work of Givental, Okounkov and Pandharipande. This volume provides a timely presentation of the important developments of recent years in this rapidly growing field.

Ten amazing curves personally selected by one of today's most important math writers Curves for the Mathematically Curious is a thoughtfully curated collection of ten mathematical curves, selected by Julian Havil for their significance, mathematical interest, and beauty. Each chapter gives an account of the history and definition of one curve, providing a glimpse into the elegant and often surprising mathematics involved in its creation and evolution. In telling the ten stories, Havil introduces many mathematicians and other innovators, some whose fame has withstood the passing of years and others who have slipped into comparative obscurity. You will meet Pierre Bezier, who is known for his ubiquitous and eponymous curves, and Adolphe Quetelet, who trumpeted the ubiquity of the normal curve but whose name now hides behind the modern body mass index. These and other ingenious thinkers engaged with the challenges, incongruities, and insights to be found in these remarkable curves-and now you can share in this adventure. Curves for the Mathematically Curious is a rigorous and enriching mathematical experience for anyone interested in curves, and the book is designed so that readers who choose can follow the details with pencil and paper. Every curve has a story worth telling.

Many advanced mathematical disciplines, such as dynamical systems, calculus of variations, differential geometry and the theory of Lie groups, have a common foundation in general topology and calculus in normed vector spaces. In this book, mathematically inclined engineering students are offered an opportunity to go into some depth with fundamental notions from mathematical analysis that are not only important from a mathematical point of view but also occur frequently in the more theoretical parts of the engineering sciences. The book should also appeal to university students in mathematics and in the physical sciences.

Ten years after publication of the popular first edition of this volume, the index theorem continues to stand as a central result of modern mathematics-one of the most important foci for the interaction of topology, geometry, and analysis. Retaining its concise presentation but offering streamlined analyses and expanded coverage of important examples and applications, Elliptic Operators, Topology, and Asymptotic Methods, Second Edition introduces the ideas surrounding the heat equation proof of the Atiyah-Singer index theorem. The author builds towards proof of the Lefschetz formula and the full index theorem with four chapters of geometry, five chapters of analysis, and four chapters of topology. The topics addressed include Hodge theory, Weyl's theorem on the distribution of the eigenvalues of the Laplacian, the asymptotic expansion for the heat kernel, and the index theorem for Dirac-type operators using Getzler's direct method. As a "dessert," the final two chapters offer discussion of Witten's analytic approach to the Morse inequalities and the L2-index theorem of Atiyah for Galois coverings. The text assumes some background in differential geometry and functional analysis. With the partial differential equation theory developed within the text and the exercises in each chapter, Elliptic Operators, Topology, and Asymptotic Methods becomes the ideal vehicle for self-study or coursework. Mathematicians, researchers, and physicists working with index theory or supersymmetry will find it a concise but wide-ranging introduction to this important and intriguing field.

The Geometry Toolbox takes a novel and particularly visual approach to teaching the basic concepts of two- and three-dimensional geometry. It explains the geometry essential for today's computer modeling, computer graphics, and animation systems. While the basic theory is completely covered, the emphasis of the book is not on abstract proofs but rather on examples and algorithms. The Geometry Toolbox is the ideal text for professionals who want to get acquainted with the latest geometric tools. The chapters on basic curves and surfaces form an ideal stepping stone into the world of graphics and modeling. It is also a unique textbook for a modern introduction to linear algebra and matrix theory.

The abstract homotopy theory is based on the observation that analogues of much of the topological homotopy theory and simple homotopy theory exist in many other categories (e.g. spaces over a fixed base, groupoids, chain complexes, module categories). Studying categorical versions of homotopy structure, such as cylinders and path space constructions, enables not only a unified development of many examples of known homotopy theories but also reveals the inner working of the classical spatial theory. This demonstrates the logical interdependence of properties (in particular the existence of certain Kan fillers in associated cubical sets) and results (Puppe sequences, Vogt's Iemma, Dold's theorem on fibre homotopy equivalences, and homotopy coherence theory).